Kuni frowned at the odd phrase. “Those aren’t in my guidebook, but I seem to recall…Is it involuntary service?”
The duchess nodded. “Workhouses. Beginning with children age four and above.”
Age four.
“I didn’t begin working until I was eight.” Which had primarily involved playing with toys on plush carpets with a princess, their indolent days filled with frequent breaks for naps and chocolate. “Was…Graham forced to work at a young age?”
“I doubt he views it as ‘forced’ because he worked beside his mother, but yes. He was born into performative employment. Not me. I was abandoned as a baby. I met Tommy in an orphanage.”
Abandoned. Kuni gulped in sympathy. “You didn’t have to work until you were older?”
“Technically, I’ve never had paid employment. By a young age, I was an accomplished pickpocket, and provided for myself that way. We do as we must. Like you, I gather.”
“Me? I rarely saw my parents, but the companion contract ensured I would be provided for throughout my years of service and beyond.” Kuni hadn’t beenabandoned. Even if at first it had felt like it.
That was one of the reasons she would never have children. The king’s command would always take priority. Kuni would rather sacrifice her chance at being a parent than not live up to the name. The other Guardsmen would be all the family Kuni needed.
The duchess tilted her head. “You were put into a situation you neither asked for nor wanted. And you immediately set about pursuing the life youdowant, despite the obstacles in your way. I cannot imagine it was easy to be accepted by the soldiers.”
“They tolerate me,” Kuni admitted. “I am still proving myself. That is why I am here.”
“No.” Chloe gestured at the carriage around them. “You’reherebecause you have a heart like a Wynchester. If all you cared about was being a soldier, you would not have given up a single moment of your limited time forourmission. Or to flirt with my brother.”
“I…uh…” Kuni’s face grew hot. She did more than flirt with the duchess’s brother. Kuni and Graham threw themselves into each other’s arms at every opportunity. Chloe was right. A future Royal Guard should be concentrating on her mission, not romance. “It’s a temporary flirtation. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Does it not?” The duchess looked skeptical. “Does Graham know it’s temporary?”
“It was his idea,” Kuni assured her.
“I can believe he said those words,” Chloe allowed, “but I am less convinced that he meant them. Graham doesn’t doanythingtemporarily. He’s an acrobat for life, a Wynchester for life, the keeper of all London’s secrets for life…When my brother looks at you, he must see—”
“—a Balcovian soldier,” Kuni said firmly. “A woman who isleaving. I know where I belong as well, and it has nothing to do with England. No offense meant.”
“None taken. England is far from perfect. That’s why we’re here. To battle for the people who have no one else to fight for them.”
Kuni leapt at a small change in topic. Anything to avoid examining her feelings about her temporary flirtation with Graham. “What legal measures do your husband and Mr. York hope to achieve?”
Chloe’s arched brow indicated she saw through the deflection, but she answered the question rather than probe deeper into Kuni’s relationship with Graham.
“In 1802, the Health and Morals of Apprentices Act attempted to prevent injuries and protect labor in manufactories with twenty or more employees, or three or more apprentices.”
Kuni sank back against the squab. “It didn’t work?”
“Regional inspectors monitor working conditions, but there are thousands of factories and very few inspectors. Worse, many mills are too small to be held accountable by the current laws. What we need is comprehensive coverage that applies toalllaborers, regardless of manufactory size.”
Kuni flexed her fingers. “Which is wherewecome in.”
Er, the Wynchesters. Not “we.”Them.
The duchess straightened her hat as the coach pulled to a stop. “Yes. England needs humane conditions for all workers. Small children, pregnant women, any laborer who cannot reasonably be expected to fulfill long hours…There are many allies in Parliament already. Dozens of MPs searching for a solution.”
“And you’re bringing one?”
Chloe grinned. “We’rebringing it.”
Kuni could not suppress a frisson of excitement at being included in the mission. Every muscle was tensed and ready to defend those who needed protecting.
Inside the duchess’s terraced residence, her husband was in a cozy parlor decorated with pretty looking glasses, hunched over a low table piled with papers. Seated across from the Duke of Faircliffe was a portly white man Kuni did not recognize, with receding blond hair and a sheaf of papers clutched in his hands.
